Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-08-10
DAILY HERALD.
AN AMERICAN LANGUAGE.
The Necessity for Spelling Reform
The Coming Language.
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The Necessity for Spelling Reform
The Coming Language.
[Chicago Times
The conviction is rapidly establish
ing itself that English "as she is
spelled" involves vast amount Of
useless and redundant labor. Figures
have not yet been furnished by the
ingenious statistician in regard to the
loss of time necessitated by the use of
the form of spelling now in vogue I;
that it would be astonishing there is
no reason to doubt. 1t is asserted, for
instance, by those who have given the
matter study, that child will save
two years in learning to read, write
and speak form of English which
spells with strict reference to the
sounds of words.
Here are two years saved at the
very outset of life, and it may be,
when one considers the amount of
time that would be economical in
later years in the writing of letters and
books, and in all other directions, that
many another year would be gained
in the primary schools. To spell words
solely with reference to their sound
would materially reduce the size Of
printed matter. The newspaper pho
netically printed could add largely to
its contents without an increase of
space, or it could continue to afford its
present average of matter in much less
space, thus saving paper and the cost
OF composition. A rough estimate
would be that spelling according to
sound would economize from one-fifth
to one-thirl of the time and space now
occupied in writing and printing the
English language.
These facts are being forced on the
attention of the people, and attempts
at reform in spelling are being made.
Periodicals are being started for the
advocacy of the simplification of the
language, and great association has
been organized to aid in attaining the
same end. There is one body with its
headquarters in the Hub which in
cludes many OF the most eminent
sholars, tsachers and liriguists in the
country, as well as several newspapers
and periodicals. Even in conserva-
tive Britain there is awakening a con-
scientiousnes that the language is faI
from perfect, and that changes may be
made to its advantage. When an
Englishman agrees that his vernacu-
lar is faulty, the fact must be admitted
rs having been established.
The Times heartily favors the at
tempt at reforming the atrocious Or
biography characteristic of English,
and concerning which Bulwer truth
fully said: "a more roundabout, ly-
ing, puzzle headed delusion than that
by which we confuse the clear instincts
of truth in our accursed system of
spelling was never concocted by the
father of falsehood. In favor of the
reform this journal wishes to express
the conviction that if successful it
would only be on this continent; if it
should ever be adopted in England it
would only be at the end of several
additional centuries. The Times would,
therefore, advise that the new style of
reform should be made specially in
this country, and that its results
be termed the American language.
There are many reasons why the
new result should be recognized as
distinctively American. 1t is among
Americans that the agitation has its
largest developments; it is something
which is in accord with our national
characteristics in that it offers the
shortest route to reach a given point !;
it is rapid it is adaptive to swift ac-
tion and to the nature of a people who
have no special regard for the ancients.
The English people have none of this
haste, this unwillingness to waste
time, this disrespect for time-honored
institutions. The fact that his father
did certain thing in a given way is
ample reason why an Englishman
should exactly follow his example.
Does anybody who comprehends the
devotion of the Briton to the old, es-
tablished, ever suppose for moment
that he would consent to write of the
Temz in the place of the Thames, or
Calhoun instead of Colquhoun, Co
burn in place of Cockburn, or Beech
EN- in lieu of Beauchamp?
The infexibility of the English and
their devotion to precedent render al
most wholly useless any missionary
work on the part of the spelling-re-
form societies. Such work should be
limited to this country. There is al
ready the basis of an American Ian
guage ON which can be erected the
phonetic structure. The Ameri-
can language is dialy diverging rapidly
from the English and the time is COM
ing when the respective representa-
tives of the two will not be able to
comprehend each other. Even now
it is difficult for the American to un-
derstand more than fractional part
of the English language as spoken in
various parts of Great Britain.
Let us ingraft phonetics in the
American language and we will then
very soon have the only logical, natu-
raj flexible, and easily-learned Ian
guage in the world. Its naturalness
and simplicity would soon recommend
it to other peoples, and in century or
less it would be the language of civili-
zation.